Karen and Chief at the Bar H ride, 2009
Hi and welcome to my blog and website! For those that don’t know me, I’m an endurance rider and live in Northern Nevada in the West region of AERC. I am currently riding Granite Chief+/ who has a little over 9,000 lifeteime miles and has been barefoot and competing in boots (bare-booted) since the 2005 ride season. He is a two time winner of the AERC National Mileage Championship. Weaver and Rocky are both retired or semi-retired with 6300 and 7600 miles each, and I am rapidly approaching the 25,000 mile mark.
Karen and Granite Chief, Cuyama XP 2009
I am also competing on a second horse and have been for the last two ride seasons. I really lucked out when I got Pro Bono (aka “Bo”) from Kerry Redente. He had gotten a terrific start on multiday rides being ridden conservatively. We have been enjoying the trails together and I’m really looking forward to riding both Bo and Chief in the 2010 ride season. They make a great team!
My other interests and hobbies generally include doing things out doors with my husband and dogs. I love endurance riding because I enjoy traveling to new places and getting to see this spectacular country of ours. I also enjoy spending time with all of my friends, camping out, and living the adventure that this sport provides.
My blog will largely be about horses and riding with helpful and useful tips, articles, ride photos, ride reports and information on many of the rides. If somebody has a question about something, feel free to ask by posting a comment in the blog. I hope to see some of you at a ride in the future! Happy Trails, Karen Chaton
Photos on this page by Lynne Glazer.
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Sorry to hear about Weaver! Hopefully he and Elly are having a great time together.
I give you a lot of credit for all the miles you have logged. You and your horses are very disciplined.
Hi Karen, I’ve been reading your blog for several months now and have found it so helpful and inspiring! I am just starting out and doing my first LDs this summer in Wa and Or- just wanted to send a big Thank You for creating such a great site and sharing all this info with us newbies! Thanks so much, Karen W.
Taj and Dazzby send their thanks too- they are my equine “guinea pigs”
Hi Karen-I have really enjoyed reading your blog and learning about endurance. I really want to try it!! I tried to e-mail you to friend you on Facebook but it keeps saying “operation failed” my brother tells me I am a “luddite” or person leary or uneducated about technology-so could you friend me at my Facebook? thanks
Hi Karen – I was reading your hiline bit as my hubby and I just purchased a horse trailer so all four of us (we have two boys) can now go riding and need a solution for tying at rides. You made a comment that if your horse pulled, you wouldn’t put them on a hiline. I have a mare who pulls on occassion but thought that the hiline would be better because she would be less likely to end up in a situation where she would feel she needs to escape, due to the freedom of the unit. She does release at the pole if I ask her, by the way. THoughts?
I too don’t like the wrecks I’ve seen occur with panels at rides and with this new trailer, I’m thinking we’ll be going away for longer journeys and further away from home. I really need a better solution than just tying to the trailer.
Look forward to hearing from you – If you are creative enough to come up with something like hilining your hilines together, you probably have other solutions that I can’t think of.
Hi Cyndi – your horse may be fine on the hi-line on the ties. The best way to find out is to put her on it at home. Start with a couple of hours and work up to overnight. Then do that two or three nights before you go somewhere. I’ve had horses that pulled before that were trained to go on a trailer tie without any problems. I also think that tying to a tie or to the trailer is safer than using corral panels. I’ve seen lots of wrecks over the years in very kind of containment system there is. The best way to avoid that is to practice ahead of time at home. Good luck and safe travels! Karen
Hi Karen, Do you and/or the AERC travel up to Canada to ride? I’m very new to the sport and have done all my riding in the Alberta prairies and Rocky mountains. Although I enjoy reading your articles, I would be very interested to hear about any adventures that you’ve had up North, eh.
Thanks,